Peanut

Looks super fun - make sure you have enough orders in your combat group to move that link team around, four might not get much done, especially if they're CC oriented.

No - fireteams cannot perform any full order that isn't a "movement" order. Good question!

I think you should absolutely use them, especially since MO tends to be low order count. You need the help getting around from links.

Evan, I was just talking to one of the Infinity guys from RC last night about some of the nastier link teams out there. Apparently a magister knight link team is crazy good. They have hyperdynamics, which means they get a +3 to dodge rolls, so they don't give a damn about templates, especially considering their decent armor and 2 wounds. So they're dodging on 17s! Templates almost can't hurt them. That's perfect for charging in to close combat. And Panzerfausts are so good. In a link they'll be blasting two of those off each order. Pretty amazing.

...and why I don't think they're so bad. When I first started playing Infinity, I thought links were just too strong. But there are MUCH scarier things than link teams. TO TAGS, total reaction bots, ODD etc... Typically the first time someone fights a link it seems too good. This isn't the case - they're good but, like many things in Infinity, there are counters. A good list has some anti-link capabilities. Here are some thoughts on links: - Links can only be used in sectorials (with some small exceptions) which limits the versatility of a players' list. - Links bunch up troops and I've seen whole teams go down to grenades, shotguns, flame throwers and chain rifles. Always try to bring one or two template carriers. Templates are great. It is very hard to hug cover sometimes with links as you've got 3 to 5 guys you're trying to fit behind one piece of scenery (all while keeping them within 8 inches of the link leader). - If a link leader shoots at you and you can ARO against someone else in the link, it may be worth it to do that. That's an unopposed shot at the guy behind the link leader. Your troop may die, but you've degraded that link. Situations may vary, if it's your LT or a valuable troop, you may prefer to dodge. - In your active turn, "slice the pie" around corners slowly to just see one guy and pick them off. - Cheap troops with templates, LGLs, HMGs, spitfires etc. can just go crit-fishing against the link leader, break the link, and now your opponent has to waste a command token to reform the link. I don't think link teams are anything to worry about. No, that's not true, they should be worried about. But no more than the TO troop you suspect is going to ambush you around that corner, or the total reaction bot, or the sniper who you have to take out if you want to move towards your objective.

Based on your questions I would recommend Infinity highly. One of the things that I like best about Infinity is how well balanced it is. It's not really about net-lists. Nothing is perfectly balanced, but you can basically bring whatever units appeal to you aesthetically or game-play wise and make it work. It's more about how you're playing your list than what your list contains. There is actually a pretty sizable group of players in Portland. Every Thursday night at 7, Red Castle has a group of guys who play. They're a really good bunch too, very nice folks. They put on occasional tournaments and a few of them attend tournaments in the region. I would say they're competitive but not to the point where it's a barrier to entry - new people come from time to time and after a few weeks they're winning games. Even better, there's a bunch of us playing at WoW on Sunday nights, most players brand new to the game (since the death of Fantasy). Now's such a good time to join! There really is no "weak" faction. Again, nothing is perfectly balanced, but it's so tightly balanced that I couldn't name one faction that is the weakest. There's some tournament data to suggest that Aleph might be the strongest, but if it is it's only marginally stronger than anyone else. Look at all the models on the Infinity site and decide what you want to paint. That is the best way to get into this. Maybe read a bit about what the factions' general play styles are. There was a recent topic around here that went into that. All factions can do pretty much everything, some just focus. For example Nomads do hacking the best. Pan O are the most accurate shooters. Ariadna are the best with physical rolls and camo etc... Really you should just choose on aesthetics. Buy a starter box. They're all excellent and again, there's no model that any list needs. You want roughly ten guys, so buy a starter pack and then maybe buy 3 or 4 guys that really appeal to you. You can read about each unit in the infinity forums, there are pinned threads that go over all the different choices. For now, pick a faction that is pretty to you and sounds like fun playing, then buy a few guys. Red Castle in SE Portland has a few starter packs, you could go there and look in person. They also offer great discounts to order Infinity, 20% I believe.

I'm interested - I'm finding it hard to schedule games now that work has started but I'm in.

They're so fun! I have a hospitaller knight, a knight of the holy sepulchre, a santiago knight, and a Joan of arc you could borrow if you'd like. Also fusiliers. Try to let me know before Sunday so I can make a couple other lists for people using different figures. Or if you'd like I could make you a list to try the faction out.

This is incorrect, it's still phys - 3. The only difference is you don't have to make the BS roll to hit with a medikit if you're in base to base. Paramedics kind of suck, but better than nothing.

Just wanna say to anyone making a list: Bring doctors over paramedics if you can help it. Paramedics test on their subject's physical -3, which for a civilian I'm guessing would be a roll of a 6 or so. You're more likely to kill them! Doctors test on their own Willpower.

Ill have extra guys if anyone wants in. Merovingia or Pan oceania, whatever you prefer.

Yes!

Nathan is a very nice guy and that's a great deal! Tohaa are really cool too.

Great time tonight, glad people are getting into Infinity.

I will be bringing 3 or 4 separate 100 point lists printed out with rules and all for anyone wanting to try the game out. They will be mostly Pan O, but maybe one Ariadna list as well.

I've got extra minis!

Cool!

Krieger - I'm of the opinion that there are no bad choices in Infinity. List building is important, but any model can be useful. The Bakunin starter is cool too! I'm not too familiar with Nomads, but Eric is a nomads player and he'll let you know what models can do what. Otherwise just play them and figure out which ones you like!

Yeah Nathan is a really cool guy, knows the rules inside and out too. Seems like some games there's just no luck on your side.

The Ariadnan Math instructor is Matt.

Disregard: Here is the ruling. You can lay mines around a corner, but not in ARO as you need sight to drop a mine in reaction.

There was a discussion at Infinity night at Red Castle just last week about how this isn't doable for some reason. Maybe I heard that wrong, I'll ask about it. As an Ariadna player I used to do that all the time in N2

"You need to be able to see the attacking model in order to ARO. The exception is if you're being hit by a template, in which case you can always dodge at a negative. Since the Marker/Repeater itself is not a model it doesn't generate an ARO by itself. Markers are one of the trickiest parts of the game to learn since they work very differently from everything else." - Jake

Two chain-rifles is a nightmare. -6 to dodge I believe, and tons of damage. At least you don't have to make two dodge rolls though.

Just to make sure I'm understanding: Shooting the marker would be one order, the hack would be a separate one. You probably already knew that. The only ARO you can perform against a hack is "Reset" I believe. Still not 100% the orc can dodge when he sees the marker thump down in front of him, I emailed Jake and will let you know. He's the warcor for Portland and has been playing for like 5 years or more, and knows his [big bad swear word].